


You should stay another night with me

by Puppet_in_the_Corner



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Boys Being Idiots, Drunken Shenanigans, Everyone lives, F/F, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, M/M, One Night Stands, They both get to join the hot dads club this time, but its not like that timeline makes much sense anyway, fudging with the movie time line, this is super sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-07 20:11:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puppet_in_the_Corner/pseuds/Puppet_in_the_Corner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck had thought he’d gotten over this crush years ago, but he hadn't thought that picking up a guy in a bar that his foggy, drunken brain identified as <i>kind of looks like Raleigh Becket</i> on his 21st birthday would backfire so spectacularly on him. </p><p>Not until after Operation Pitfall, when a woman looking for Raleigh Becket shows up with a 2 month old baby. </p><p>Oops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You should stay another night with me

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to take a prompt I'd seen a few times and take my own spin on it. The mpreg is really casually mentioned and not graphic because I'm a huge weenie ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
> 
> As mentioned in the tags, the timeline was pretty heavily fudged with and I've moved the events of the movie to mid-July, but otherwise most things are the same. Also everyone lives because I suck and I wanted this to be as teeth rottingly sappy as possible.
> 
> And finally, a huge shoutout to the people who combed through this for bad writing. Smoochies to you all!
> 
> EDIT: If this ends up showing up as "updated" I'M SORRY IT WASN'T ACTUALLY UPDATED.

 

There’s a lady Chuck has never seen in LOCCENT. Normally Chuck wouldn’t even give her a second thought, because even with the piercings and tattoos, she wouldn’t be the oddest sight in the Dome. No, it’s the very _new_ looking infant she’s holding in her arms that gives him pause.

 

It’s enough of a surprise that his footsteps stutter slightly when he catches sight of them as he enters an unusually quiet LOCCENT.

 

“Does anyone,” she starts, sounding very bored and very American, “know where Raleigh Becket would be?” There’s dead silence, probably because Tendo isn’t around to fill it with inane chatter, and someone in the back coughs lightly before announcing they’ll go get him.

 

“What.” He can’t stop the words from spilling from his lips, looking at her with wide eyes, putting the pieces together. Fuck, fuck, _fuck._

 

She looks over at him, as if realizing he’s actually there, and her eyes flit up and down his body in a way that Chuck has gotten used to since he’d started putting on muscle. She probably recognizes him, if she’d ever turned on a TV, he thinks.

 

“Hey, ginger snaps, you know where Raleigh Becket is?” She balances the baby on her hip, one hand supporting the back of the infant’s soft head, and if Chuck weren’t so stunned he’d think it was cute. It, _she,_ if he was going to guess from the flower band around the infant’s head (but then again you never knew these days) had her tiny fist half shoved in her mouth, peering over at him like he was a new toy to play with.

 

“Who let you up here?”

 

“Tendo let me up here and then abandoned me.” She shrugs him off, as if he’s a fly. He just crosses his arms, unamused.

 

“Ugh, my back hurts. Hey, can you hold her for a sec?” She ignores Chuck’s obvious apprehension at being told to handle someone else’s infant and instead gently thrusts the baby into Chuck’s arms. Despite the fact that Chuck has held a child maybe twice in his life (he’d already vehemently decided he was _never_ babysitting for Tendo ever again, as cute as his kid had turned out to be), he manages to not drop her and supports her bottom with one hand, the other going to the back of her head. Chuck’s not sure how old a baby has to be before they can fully support their own heads, but he’s pretty sure this one isn’t at that stage yet.

 

Actually really looking at her, however, he feels like he needs to reiterate his previous statement slightly; she’s _really_ cute, with big blue eyes and auburn hair that’s not unlike his own. Maybe he’s a little biased, so what.

 

She then proceeds to drool all over his shirt, grabbing at his chest with chubby little hands, fabric bunching up beneath her fingers. Chuck’s looked after Tendo’s kid a few times, sure (or rather, saddled with a small child randomly, though why anyone would trust him with a child was beyond him; he didn’t exactly scream _caretake_ _r_ ), but he’s not well equipped to _care for a child._

 

Of course, his brain is also doing double time trying to figure out why there’s a woman here who’s looking for Raleigh, and why she’d brought a _baby_ with her, though the most obvious answer is sitting like a grave in the back of his mind.

 

It’s only when Raleigh finally shows up, looking as though he’d just run up from wherever the hell he’d been hiding out, that the lady has anything other than a bored look on her face. Chuck’s not sure whether to feel relieved at the thought that Becket is finally here to take his supposed progeny away from him or to seethe with poorly veiled jealously at the thought that Raleigh has a _wife_ (or _someone_ to make a baby with) and child.

 

“Jaz!” Raleigh starts, making his way towards them with a wide smile on his face. He pauses when he catches sight of Chuck holding the infant, as if his brain has suddenly short circuited, but he comes back online quickly enough, turning to face Chuck instead of the newly named mystery woman.

 

“I’ve decided I’m never having children. Take it back, I don’t want it anymore.” Jaz makes a show of flourishing her hands as Chuck just stands there impassively with the baby in his arms. With _Raleigh’s baby,_ what the fuck.

 

“You only had her for like two weeks, it can’t have been _that_ bad.” Raleigh teases.

 

When Raleigh strides over to him, Chuck has this flustered sort of look on his face that probably comes hand in hand with holding someone else’s baby that you didn’t know existed.

 

“I’m assuming this is yours?” He mutters, more softly than Chuck would probably ever talk, though the baby between them probably has something to do with it. Raleigh beams at him in the way that a new parent might, as if it’s _normal_ that Chuck is holding his baby and that he doesn’t find anything _weird_ about it. There’s a warm and relaxed look on Raleigh’s face, wiping away the tired and tense mood he’d been in since he’d arrived at the Shatterdome.

 

“Yeah, she’s mine.” He responds, voice gentle, holding his arms out to her. The baby seems to recognize _daddy_ among the sea of new and confused faces (Chuck’s included) and suddenly starts making a fuss, reaching out to Raleigh in a way that has Chuck shuffling closer so Raleigh can take his daughter back.

 

That their hands touch and Raleigh’s stay for a little too long doesn’t mean anything, Chuck tells himself.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey there, baby girl. You miss me?”

 

Raleigh coos at her, the relief plain on his face at seeing his daughter again. It’s not that he doesn’t _trust_ his sister, but Jaz is certainly not the motherly type. When he steps back from Chuck, he takes note of how the younger ranger’s face looks terribly flustered in a way that has him blushing up to his ears. Raleigh finds himself having a hard time reconciling the little shit whose face he’d near kicked in just a few weeks ago with the man who’s blushing like a tomato standing in front of him now.

 

It’s cute, he thinks, giving Chuck a warm smile that the other man jerkily returns.

 

“Thanks, Jaz.” He leans back over to his sister to place a quick kiss on her cheek, mindful the whispers flying through the air around them. Whatever, he’s used to it, though he imagines his sister is going to quash any rumors about being the mother of his lovechild soon enough.

 

“No problem. Please never unload your spawn on me ever again, even if the world is ending. I’d rather like to spend the end of my days in a drunken stupor.” Raleigh rolls his eyes at that but there’s a fond look on his face.

 

“Gotcha. You’ll just stick to playing auntie.” If he’d been looking at Chuck, he’d notice the sudden realization blooming on the other man’s face. His sister, however, does, and a sly look crosses her face then.

 

“Maybe, as long as I don’t have to be in charge of keeping her alive. Now that I am no longer responsible for a small, fragile creature that is covered in far too many soft spots, you got any booze around here for your poor, jet lagged sister?” She bumps his shoulder lightly, tapping Minie on the nose and getting a high pitched shriek out of her.

 

“Sister?” Chuck suddenly pipes up, an odd look crossing his face. Jaz turns back to him, looking heavily unamused.

 

“What, don’t tell me you thought she was _mine._ I don’t _do_ babies, ginger snaps.” Raleigh snorts at the nickname, before Jaz continues, as if insulted at the thought that she’d even _bore_ a child.

 

“No, no ladies were involved in the making of _this_ baby.” Despite her earlier words, Jaz leans over to bump noses with the baby, who giggles and tries to grab her face, “Isn’t that right, Minie-boo?”

 

 

Oh, Chuck thinks helplessly, the pieces suddenly slotting together and making too much sense, aside from the name.

 

 

 

Minie-boo. What is that even supposed to be _short_ for?

 

 

 

“Her name is Dominika. We call her Minie for short.” Raleigh supplies at the perplexed look on his face, looking somewhat embarrassed. Now Chuck has a moment to step back and really take in what he’s seeing (that is, Raleigh Becket with a baby in his arms), and he takes a second to muse upon it, Jaz’s words flying through his head.

 

They call her _Minie_ for Christ’s sake. The baby yawns widely, doing her best to shove Raleigh’s fingers into her mouth, but he only lightly tickles under her chin, getting a high pitched shriek of joy in return.

 

Holy shit, Chuck suddenly thinks to himself, somewhat surprised he’s not finding it _annoying,_ brain frazzled while trying to process all of this at once, that’s fucking adorable. He would have thought that the revelation that Raleigh Becket had a _child,_ had _given birth_ to an infant, wouldn’t have affected him like this, but the truth of the matter was that there was an odd stirring in his gut, stupid, warm, fuzzy feelings that he’d thought he’d long ago squashed.

 

It’s a stupid thought to suddenly enter his mind, but he remembers something Alison had mentioned once; hand a guy a baby and he becomes infinitely more attractive. He’s not sure how much of that is _true,_ but as Raleigh and his sister (not wife, not girlfriend, _sister)_ leave the room to collect to rest of Minie’s things, the small wave Raleigh throws at him (and small wave that he raises Minie’s tiny arm to match, with a softly murmured _Say bye to Chuck, honey_ ) makes his heart clench uncomfortably in his chest.

 

He’s so irrevocably fucked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Did you know Raleigh had a baby? Or was a carrier?” Chuck doesn’t even bother with any pretenses, throwing himself down in a chair next to Mako in her office, Max following his lead and attempting to waddle up into his lap before Chuck takes pity on him and pulls up his bulk. To her credit, she only looks at him like he’s a harmless bug, and that she’s not in the mood to squish him.

 

“Well, I found out when we drifted. I have not seen her yet, however.” There’s something in her voice that leads Chuck to believe that she wants nothing more than to toss all her paperwork into the air and go find Raleigh to coo over Minie, but Mako’s always been more fastidious in her work habits.

 

“She’s really cute.” He says, slightly dazed.

 

“Is she?” Mako hums noncommittally, but there’s a small smile on her face. He’s missed spending time with her, having avoided her for the first week after Pitfall, unable to face her with the thought that _he came back and Stacker didn’t._ It hadn’t been until she’d found him hiding in a closet and dragged him into the Kwoon before they were on proper speaking terms again.

 

“Looks a lot like her dad.” He continues, perhaps not realizing what a lovestruck idiot he sounds like.

 

If Mako had been wearing glasses, she’d be lowering her face to peer at him over them, giving him a _look_ he’s very familiar with; it was basically the polite young lady version of _You’re so full of shit._

 

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I.” Max gives his cheek a slobbery lick as if to comfort him, and he accepts with nary a thought.

 

“You did.” Mako smiles at him like she knows something he doesn’t, which is probably true considering she’s been in Raleigh’s head before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chuck wanders into the mess hall early the next morning, unable to sleep; Max trots happily after him, tongue lolling out like there’s nothing wrong in the world. It’s quiet, with only a few people puttering around between the tables, but he spots Raleigh seated at the table where Striker’s team would usually set up camp, bouncing Minie lightly on his lap. He hasn’t seen them since Jaz had shown up out the blue yesterday morning, too busy with the paperwork being shoved at him after Mako had asked _So have you finished your own work since you’re so busy bothering me?_

 

He looks exhausted, Chuck thinks, slowly making his way over. Raleigh looks up at him nearing them, and sends a tired smile Chuck’s way. Minie’s currently drooling all over a teething ring looking toy that Raleigh’s holding up for her, but her eyes follow him when he reaches the table.

 

“You look like you haven’t slept in days, mate.” He says conversationally, seating himself when Raleigh doesn’t look like he’s going to stop him. It comes out more concerned than snarky, however, so that’s probably what keeps Becket from looking like he wants to kick his ass again. That, and the baby he’s currently got his arms full of. Max whines before wagging his stumpy tail, running under the table to the other side where Raleigh’s sitting. Traitor.

 

“The little miss here decided that she wanted to stay up all night in a fuss, probably because she didn’t sleep through the plane ride here.” He yawns then, covering his mouth with his fist as if to prove that, but then he blinks blearily back at Chuck, eyes half lidded. “Not that I usually get much sleep anyway, even before she got here. Spent too much time worrying, I guess.”

 

Right. Insomnia. Chuck had come across him wandering around at night, restless and unable to sleep, at least twice already; he hadn’t thought worry over not seeing his baby would have been part of the reason for it.

 

Minie (and fuck, it’s a cute name for a cute baby) looks at him then, and struggles in Raleigh’s firm grip for a moment, reaching out to Chuck in the way that children normally do when faced with something new. She’s too young to really articulate her limbs in the way she wants them to move, so it just comes across as her wildly waving a tiny fist at him, which is fucking cute. Probably a little cuter than Max was when Chuck had first gotten him, all pudgy puppy wrinkles, _but only slightly_.

 

“I never knew you were a carrier.” He says, voice subdued as he looks at Minie. The PPDC was normally rather open with the status of it’s pilots; they had to be, when Carriers didn’t react to the same medicine that non-Carriers did. He remembers one of the Beckets having that little check box marked off, and it wasn’t the one sitting in front of him.

 

“Neither did I,” Raleigh says airily, “Not until I was hugging the toilet every day for nearly three weeks. By the time I’d figured it out, I was maybe three months in.” It’s a daring admission, one Chuck didn’t think he’d get considering they’d only just gotten to the point of not coming to blows when they spoke to each other. Raleigh lets one hand wander over to Max’s head, giving him a satisfying scratch behind the ears.

 

Getting forcefully pulled out of a smoking escape pod and cheating death had done wonders for his ego, probably. That any of them were still alive at all was enough of an eye-opener for Chuck to play at not being a total asshole most of the time.

 

“Boyfriend?” Chuck voices, honestly curious. Raleigh shakes his head, shifting slightly so Minie’s raised higher in his lap, closer to his chest and away from Max’s cheery tongue licking.

 

“Got bored one night, went to a bar... I think we were already too plastered to think of using a condom, but at the time I hadn’t thought it was even possible.. Was one hell of a way to find out, though; my sister thought it was funny for a little while, at least.” He muses, almost fond.

 

“Your sister sounds terrible.” Chuck teases, and Raleigh chuckles at that.

 

“Yeah, she’s not exactly the most empathetic person around, but she helped me out when I had to quit my job. They don’t exactly like people who are 5 months pregnant working around heavy machinery.” The Wall, Chuck thinks, mind suddenly far away at the thought of Raleigh alone and pregnant, with nowhere else to go.

 

It’s a sobering thought.

 

“The only thing I really remember about him was that he had an accent.” Raleigh says, a faraway look on his face, “Christ, I couldn’t even tell you his hair color, it was too dark. But, I guess I can imagine.” He runs a finger over Minie’s wisp thin hair, and Chuck can see what he means; her hair is a soft, muted brown that he’s all too familiar with. It’s similar, he thinks, to his mother’s hair, but he’s seen locks like that turn red later in life.

 

“Everyone in my family was blond except for my mother, but she didn’t have hair like this. Who knows, maybe when she hits the terrible twos she’ll even end up with freckles.” Raleigh grins at him goodnaturedly, and there’s a calmness in him that Chuck has only started to see since Jazmine brought the baby to the dome with her.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with freckles.” Chuck defends, voice low. He tentatively reaches a hand out across the table in front of Minie, and she makes a grab for it, tiny starfish fingers grasping around his index and ring fingers. She makes an adorable cooing sound, though Chuck keeps his arm firm and still to keep her from sticking it in her mouth, which she immediately attempts to do.

 

Chuck doesn’t want to say that he _melts,_ per se, but it’s definitely close. He’s already used to the drool, courtesy of Max, who loves to slobber all over him in his sleep, so a little bit of baby drool is nothing in comparison.

 

“Not at all. I think they’re cute.” There’s something in Raleigh’s eyes when he says this, something that has a slight blush staining his cheeks that Chuck wants to see more of, before the other man sighs deeply, pressing a soft kiss to his daughter’s head.

 

“I can’t believe I can remember the _day_ but not what he looked like. We didn’t even give each other our real names, and we both knew it. Sorry, honey.” He murmurs apologetically into his daughter’s hair, and despite his earlier assumptions, Chuck can’t help but feel for him, and for the baby he’s holding to his chest that’ll probably never know her father.

 

“You must think I’m an idiot; irresponsible and unsafe.” Raleigh says suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts. Chuck shakes his head quickly; what right does he have to knock someone for that sort of thing? Thanks to the drift, he was well aware that he had _not_ been planned, conceived on his father’s own 22nd birthday.

 

The thought makes him wrinkle his nose in distaste, not wanting to revisit those particular memories again. He doesn’t need to remember mum jumping out of a cake dressed like a stripper ever again.

 

“To be honest, mate, not really. You already feel regret over it; not my place to push more on you.” Raleigh sighs, as though somewhat relieved.

 

“I was visiting my sister in Anchorage for the week, and she’d sexiled me for the night because she’s terrible; I’d found myself at some shit bar nearby… Fuck, sometimes I wonder if he was part of the PPDC, it wasn’t too far from where the Icebox was.” Raleigh shakes his head again, berating himself. It does pose a question that Chuck can’t keep himself from asking, however.

 

“How old is she, then?” He can’t tell baby ages for shit, but she looks _very_ young.

 

“Born May 15th, at ass o’clock in the morning.” Raleigh smiles fondly when Minie tries to crawl across the table to reach Chuck, “It was not pleasant, I’ll tell you that much.”

 

In his head, Chuck quickly does the math, putting her conception around… August. Weird coincidence, he muses, mind far away.

 

He frowns, brows furrowed. “That was around when those UN bastards finally gave us the finger, wasn’t it? I remember my old man and I were in Anchorage for that. Hell of a way to spend a 21st birthday, I’ll tell you.” What Chuck doesn’t say is that while drinking had never been an _issue_ anywhere else around the world, he’d also decided that fucking off to some shite bar for the night while his dad, Stacker, and Tendo had sat through teeth-pulling conferences was a preferable alternative.

 

“I can’t imagine that would have been fun. There’s nothing to really _do_ there, not since the dome shut down.”

 

“Yeah, I ended up spending some time alone before deciding to nip off and find some place to get shit faced and a warm body to occupy my night with.” Raleigh snorts in amusement; by now, Minie has (or rather, Chuck has let her) pulled Chuck’s hand all the way toward her.

 

Chuck lets himself remember that night, or at least as much of it as he can. A firm, hard body under him, breathy moans and gasps in the dark… The other man had scars, he thinks, remembering mouthing at them at the junction of his shoulder.

 

Still, there’s something stilling Chuck’s tongue, because he remembers the name that was given to him, the name that he gave out. Not a lie, but not a full truth either.

 

Chuck’s thrown out of his momentary daydream when something causes Minie to laugh, her face scrunched up in joy. When she does so, he notices something that he hadn’t realized before.

 

“She’s got dimples, too.” Chuck shoots him a wry grin, flashing his own, “Not from your side either, I reckon?”

 

“So far I’ve got _maybe ginger_ and _dimples_ on my little baby daddy checklist.” Raleigh tosses back teasingly, rolling his eyes, but there’s a truth in his words that gets Chuck thinking. Are they flirting? They’re flirting, he thinks, thoughts racing. Something else begins to plague his thoughts, however, overrunning any giddiness at the fact they were totally flirting like high school students.

 

Anchorage is pretty big, right? And there were probably tons of bars near the Shatterdome, except, no, not really, because Chuck remembers having a hell of a time _trying_ to find one that hadn’t been shut down. Only so many could possibly be near the Dome.

 

August 14th. May 15th.

 

It has to just be a coincidence that the name he’d used to taunt Raleigh with when they’d first met _(“Is that so, Ray?”)_ would be the same one he’d been given in return for his own half-truth of a name _(“You can just call me Charlie, mate.”)._

 

“What was his name?” He breathes out, not taking his eyes off Minie.

 

“What?”

 

“Her old man.” Chuck’s eyes flit between them for a moment, and he lightly tickles under Minie’s chin, “You said he gave you a name.” Raleigh squirms, slightly.

 

“It wasn’t even… we’d both pretty much agreed to not give our real names…”

 

“Come on,” he taunts, but there’s no heat to his words, not when he’s tickling the cheeks of a two month old baby.

 

“Charlie.” Raleigh says, eyes boring into him like drills. There’s something in his gaze, either a muted realization or slowly dawning horror, Chuck isn’t sure, but the name reverberates through his head like a gunshot.

 

_Charlie._

 

Fuck, he thinks, throat tightening. Chuck doesn’t know what to fucking _say_ , his voice suddenly dying in his throat as his heart hammers in his chest. Raleigh had said he’d remembered the day, he’d _have_ to.

 

It’s a fucking coincidence, he tells himself.

 

“Kind of a funny coincidence that we were there around the same time; I was there on the 14th of August. How about you, _Ray?”_ Chuck says breezily, waiting for the other man’s reaction; Chuck’s tauntingly used the name before but not in this context, not with the idea that he may have accidentally sired a child nearly a year ago without realizing it.Raleigh freezes, Minie squalling unhappily when he suddenly becomes unresponsive.

 

Fuck, fuck, _fuck. So not a fucking coincidence_.

 

Chuck swallows loudly, but the two of them seem to be caught in some sort of fucked up staring contest. That there isn’t a look of sudden disgust on Raleigh’s face has to be a good thing, right? Except that it’s more like he’s suddenly paled and that his face has been overtaken by a sort of muted fear.

 

“You know… K-science is probably not very busy right now, they do, uh, lots of tests-” He starts, trying to give Raleigh a hint.

 

“Yeah, I might… go down there in a bit, see if there’s anything for me to do there.” It seems like he gets it, coughing slightly as he supports Minie’s head.

 

“They’ve got all the, ah, files on everyone on base there, if there’s a specific test you need. You know, if it requires any info on anyone else.” Chuck puts a careful emphasis on _tests_ , not moving when Minie pats his outstretched hand.

 

The two of them awkwardly stare at each other, unsure of what to say. Between them, Minie whines, waving her chubby arms frantically to get their attention. It breaks the spell between the two of them, and Raleigh suddenly rises as if he’s been shocked, hoisting his daughter up with him.

 

“I’ll, uh, see you later tonight I guess. You know, if the test goes… good.”

 

Chuck can hazard a guess as to what that means, and just watches him go, his heart nearly in his throat.

 

Fuck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What’s got you looking so glum, ginger snaps?” A voice resounds from somewhere in front of him, the table giving a slight wobble when Jaz tosses herself into the seat across from him where Raleigh had been seated earlier that morning.

 

“Can you please stop calling me that?” Chuck lets his forehead hit the table with a dull thud, nearly spilling the drink that Jaz puts on the table.

 

Okay, so he might have… Anchorage is _huge,_ it’s just a _coincidence, it has to be._ There had to have been another _Charlie_ that night who happened to end up at a sleazy motel behind a shitty bar with a blond named _Ray._ He lifts his head slightly so his eyes lock onto Jaz’s own, suddenly laser focused.

 

“Hypothetically speaking, if you found out that you might have accidentally fathered a child with your boyhood hero nearly a year ago, what would you do?” Evidently that is _not_ what she was expecting to hear, considering they hadn’t really spoken many words to one another. He’s not even sure why he’s _asking_ , they’re not exactly _friends._

 

Not that him and Raleigh are exactly _friends_ either.

 

She ponders on something for a moment before answering him.

 

“Well, considering that Freddie Mercury has been dead for nearly a third of a century, that would be impossible. But I guess I see, uh, _hypothetically speaking_ , where you’re coming from.” She takes a sip of her questionable orange drink, before continuing, “Does this have anything to do with the fact that I heard my brother muttering about _paternity tests_ when he blew by me in the hallway?” Chuck groans into the tabletop. The look on her face goes from confused to slightly sympathetic, despite what Raleigh had said earlier, and she leans over to give his shoulder an awkward pat, as though she’s unused to having to comfort someone. The action alone tells Chuck that she’s more like him than her own brother, having issues with dealing with _feelings_ _._

 

“Okay, how about this: ask me whatever you want about this hypothetical lovechild you may or may not have fathered, with this hypothetical hero of yours who may or may not be my brother, and I get to ask you something in return.” She tosses out, like a peace offering.

 

“Why is her name Dominika?” He says with no preamble, not sure why that’s the first thing out of his mouth.

 

“Our mom’s name was Dominique, but Raleigh thought it was too much of an older woman’s name, so he settled on Dominika, thus, Minie.” She responds coolly. “What’s Mako’s favorite sweet?” Chuck finally lifts his head completely off the table, throwing an odd look her way.

 

“What. Shouldn’t you be asking me if she even likes women? When did you even meet her?” If he is indeed seeing this correctly...

 

“That’s not the point and that’s also not what I asked. Raleigh introduced us yesterday.” He shrugs, unsure of what to say, one cheek still pressed to the tabletop.

 

“She likes… chocolate covered hobnobs, I suppose.” Stacker’s favorites, they’d been, “How is… How’s Raleigh doing with the single father gig?” Jaz spends a moment thinking of what to say, her eyes flitting back and forth between him and her drink.

 

“Kind of hopeless, to be honest. I mean, he’s getting there… neither of us are really well versed in the whole art of child rearing.” She leans back, a scowl on her face, “our dad took off after our mom died, and Yancy sort of took over after that, but he was still just an 18 year old kid, not really sure what to do with a sexually and emotionally confused 15 year old and a bratty 14 year old.” There’s a fond smile on her face at the thought, however, and Chuck wonders just what she’s remembering in particular. It’s not something he’d known about, the Beckets early life, and his heart constricts at the thought of it.

 

“He wouldn’t mind some help, if you know what I mean.” She waggles her eyebrows at him, as if trying to hint something.

 

It strikes him that she’s being awfully kind to him, and it probably shows on his face, because she just pushes her drink towards him. He lifts his head and takes an experimental sip, before nearly gagging and attempting to swallow it down for appearance’s sake.

 

Definitely not _just_ orange juice.

 

“It’s like, 9 am, woman.” He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, realizing the time. It means he’s probably been sitting there in a daze for nearly two hours. Christ, that is a _lot_ of Vodka.

 

“That hot Russian fox and her bear of a husband were kind enough to indulge me.” She says dreamily; at least Sasha and Aleksis were back on their feet now, he’d thought somewhat optimistically, before remembering that Medical had all but thrown them out because they were waging an all out war with the also recovering Wei Tangs. “Does Mako prefer blondes or brunettes?”

 

“She likes blondes. With strongly defined jaw lines.” Maybe he’s teasing a little, but the way Jaz’s hands smooth along the edge of her - admittedly well defined - jaw, he can tell that she’s considering something.

 

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

 

“If this is what you consider nice, I fear for what you consider _rude_ , but, well, I _do_ occasionally turn on the television.” And here, she leers at him, “And let me tell you, the thought of _Mr. Chuck Hansen_ mooning over my dopey ass brother and his baby is _hi-la-rious.”_

 

“Your brother used to be a pilot in the Golden Days, too,” He points out, face flushing. He’d thought he’d gotten over this crush years ago, but evidently picking up a guy in a bar that his foggy, drunken brain identified as _kind of looking like Raleigh Becket_ had backfired spectacularly on him. Goddamnit.

 

“Yeah, but he’s always been my dopey brother whereas Yancy was the competent one.” She pauses, taking another swig of her orange travesty, “I didn’t really see either of them for a long time; they joined up with the Jaeger Academy,” She breathes deeply, “Yancy died, Raleigh became a shut in, I was too busy fucking off and doing nothing special… I didn’t really see him again until 11 months ago. He came over to try and, uh, reconcile, but I was kind of a bitch and threw him out for the night.” She has the decency to look rather ashamed at her actions, before looking back at him with a knowing grin on her face.

 

“And nine months later, Minie came along. I imagine you probably had something to do with that, huh, _Charlie?”_ The lewd smile she throws him just has him drop his head back down onto the cold table top, groaning audibly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chuck doesn’t see Raleigh ( _Ray,_ his mind unhelpfully supplies, _jesus christ_ ) all day until after dinner, when there’s a hesitant knock on his door.

 

“Can I come in?” Raleigh looks fucking ridiculous, with a baby sling wrapped around his front, one arm supporting the back of Minie’s head. He also looks pale, and dazed, as if he’s just found out something that would have shaken him badly.

 

“Yeah,” He pauses, before realizing he hasn’t moved out of the way, “Yeah, come in.”

 

Max is seated on the bed, perking up happily when Raleigh nears him, reaching one hand out to affectionately scratch at the top of his head.

 

“You can sit, if you want.” Chuck internally cringes, because it’s not like he has any _furniture_ or anything else in the room. He doesn’t spend much time in here anyway, so the only real mainstays are Max’s food and toys, plus some old clothes he’d halfheartedly brought with him. Most of his things were still at the Sydney dome, after all.

 

Raleigh gingerly sits on the edge of the bed, Max edging over to nuzzle his flat face into the man’s side.

 

“So, uh, the…” Chuck’s brain is still partially scrambled, and he finds himself unable to take his eyes off the other man; Raleigh looks _worse_ than he did this morning, pale with dark rings under his eyes.

 

“The test,” he says stupidly, “That go… well?” Raleigh starts with a jolt, as if he’d been nodding off slightly, before he nods, slowly.

 

“It went… good. Or bad, depending on what you define as good.” He trails off, as if trying to gauge Chuck’s reaction. Chuck, who’s brain is running at a million miles a minute, trying to figure out if Raleigh’s _upset_ at the fact or not.

 

“You, me, us being in Anchorage that night… Not a coincidence,” He breathes out, a final, defeated sound, as if deflating. In his arms, Minie stirs, making a sound of discontent that has Raleigh rocking her gently, murmuring soft words to her ears.

 

“So she’s mine?” Chuck says bluntly, the breath knocked right out of him. Raleigh nods, slowly, and despite his earlier hesitance, there’s a tiny smile pulling at his lips.

 

“You alright with some Aussie arsehole being the father of your baby?” He teases, slightly, taking a few steps towards the bed, trying to hide the hammering of his heart in the cage his chest has become. There’s no heat or fire in his voice, however, and this seems to relax Raleigh enough for him to throw a bigger smile his way.

 

“I like knowing who the father of my child is, yes.” Raleigh timidly corrects, looking up at him with warmth in his eyes. It’s a nice look, even with the exhaustion written plain on his face.

 

“Do you… um… want to hold her?” There’s a moment where he just _stares_ at the two of them, at his former idol and hero, and a baby who is now definitely confirmed to be his own, before Chuck scrambles up onto the bed next to him, nodding his head.

 

“Y-yeah.” There’s a few seconds of confusion as they try to transfer Minie between them without jostling her too much, but eventually Chuck has her in his arms, his back to the wall as he peers down into her eyes. Mirrors of his own, even, he thinks with his heart clenching tightly in his chest.

 

“Hello there, I guess that I’m your dad.” Chuck pauses, considering something, “Sorry about that, sweetheart.” He apologizes, not entirely sure why. There’s a sharp intake of breath next to him, as if Raleigh’s shocked that he would acknowledge it.

 

Probably because he’s not sure how he’s going to be a good dad, if Raleigh can even stand to let him hang around. He looks at him, a question apparent in his eyes even before his says.

 

“Oi, you mind if I stay?” Raleigh looks startled at the question, softly spoken and hesitant, before Chuck quickly reiterates, “If that’s alright, of course.” It’s probably the least sure Chuck has sounded in a long time, and the first time he’s felt so completely fucking unsure about something in just as long. But the shock on Raleigh’s face wears away quickly, and is replaced by a small, warm smile that turns Chuck’s heart into complete goo.

 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Completely fine.” There’s an amused look on his face then, “Considering this is also _your_ room, I’d figure it would be weird if you didn’t.”

 

“I’d meant more, ah…” He trails off, trying to find the words. Minie’s tried to wobble out of his grip and onto the bed, but he rearranges her so she’s held close to his chest instead. “If it was alright if I stayed around for her.” In her life, he means. Maybe Raleigh’s, too.

 

The other man looks absolutely stunned, which Chuck can’t help but take a slight offense to. “What, you think that I’m just gonna rack off like nothing happened? Sorry, mate, but I’ll be here for the long haul.” He says airily, holding Raleigh’s gaze as if daring him to say something.

 

“I just… I’m still pretty new at this, Chuck.” He admits, quietly, “Sometimes she cries and I can’t figure out why, sometimes I just wonder if I’m the right person to be raising a baby. And you, you’re… young. You’ve got a whole life ahead of you-” Chuck cuts him off before he gets any further with his spiel.

 

“What’s left, now that the breach is sealed and the kaiju are gone? In case you hadn’t noticed, _Ray,_ but I’d sort of spent the last ten years preparing only for that.” He lowers his voice, leaning in closer to the other man’s face, “I don’t really have anywhere else to be. Or anywhere else I really _want_ to be.” He reiterates quickly at the guilt stricken look on Raleigh’s face. They’re so close that Chuck could just lean over and plant a small kiss on the corner of his lips, but he’s not really sure where they stand right now; sure, they accidentally _made a baby_ together, but that wasn’t exactly _planned._

 

“Plus, you’re not _that_ much older than me, old timer.” He grins at Raleigh, as if trying to hide the utter nervousness he’s feeling, “Your life isn’t over either.”

 

“I guess not,” Raleigh smiles softly at him, fingers playing with the tiny little hairband around their daughter’s (and when did Chuck start thinking of her as _their_ daughter?) head.

 

“You and me, we can’t be that incompetent.” Raleigh snorts, before Chuck goes on, “I’d reckon we could probably raise a baby together without ruining her completely. We wouldn’t be making questionable decisions like Tendo and his wife, eh?”

 

“You mean how they dress him up like a newsie? Or the part where they totally just named him _grandfather?”_ Yeye Choi is adorable, sure, but Chuck honestly wonders sometimes what Alison is thinking, letting Tendo dress him up like that.

 

“I don’t think Alison even knows what it means, so.” The two of them share a small chuckle at that, Raleigh pushed up against on the bed, peering down at Minie’s curious face.

 

“You have to admit,” Chuck starts after a few moments of silence, tapping a finger softly to Minie’s nose, which she wrinkles in response, “this is pretty fucking hilarious.” Raleigh gives him a flat, unimpressed look, leaning over to bump his shoulder slightly.

 

“I don’t see how this is funny.” Chuck just cocks a brow at him, giving him an equally unimpressed look back.

 

“Oh, come off it, you git; we both just _happened_ to get shit faced in the same bar, on the same night? You just _happened_ to get involved in that little tiff I had with that lumberjack looking fellow, I just _happened_ to come when I was balls deep in your ass?” It comes out a lot more lewd than he’d meant it to, and there’s a few seconds ticking by of complete silence before Raleigh covers his mouth to keep from laughing out loud, having to eventually muffle his laughter by pressing his face into Chuck’s shoulder.

 

It’s a nice thing, hearing Raleigh’s laughter, even nicer to feel him pressed up against Chuck in a way that’s purely relaxed.

 

“You.. okay with this?” Raleigh questions softly, after coming down from his small laughing fit.

 

“Okay with what?”

 

“I mean, you just found out you have an illegitimate child.” Raleigh points out, not incorrectly.

 

“Maybe it hasn’t quite hit me yet.” Chuck muses; it’s true, however. He’s not flipping out like Raleigh had probably thought he would have, all blustery anger and shock.

 

“I mean, I guess at breakfast… it was hard not to think of it, even before you confirmed it. Did interrupt my workflow quite a bit, so I imagine Mako’s going to have my head when she finds out I never finished that paperwork for her.” He shrugs his shoulders, not really finding it in himself to feel the fear usually associated with irritating Mako.

 

“I had some time to think it over.” He murmurs, remembering his conversation with Jaz. “But I’m pretty sure I’m okay with the fact that we accidentally made a baby together.” Chuck tickles said baby’s nose again, “I’ll admit that many of the decisions I made that night were because I thought you looked an awful lot like this hotshot Jaeger pilot I used to have posters of, back in the day.” It’s a pretty lofty admission of him to make, but apparently the shit eating grin he shoots towards Raleigh is enough for another round of low chuckles.

 

“Yeah, you looked enough like Hercules Hansen for me to consider it.” Raleigh teases, “I used to have a _huge_ crush on him when I was a _hotshot Jaeger pilot_ back in the day.” Chuck’s grin near immediately turns into a frown, his brows furrowed as Raleigh just smiles wanly back at him.

 

“Oi, you said you liked the dimples and freckles.” Raleigh grins widely, leaning over to kiss the top of Minie’s forehead when she yawns.

 

“We might be too stupid for this,” Raleigh admits far too happily, and perhaps somewhat truthfully.

 

A sudden realization hits him like a freight train.

 

“Oh, christ.”

 

“What?”

 

“My dad is never going to stop giving me shit for this,” he bemoans, adjusting his grip on the infant in his arms, before turning to gaze into Raleigh’s questioning eyes.

 

“I,” he starts, cringing slightly, “Was conceived on my dad’s 22nd birthday.” There’s a slip of a grin on Raleigh’s face then, as if he knows where this is leading to.

 

“Continuing the family tradition?”

 

“Our daughter better _not_ continue this tradition and get knocked up on her 20th birthday.” He grumbles. Minie seems to share the sentiment, and makes a displeased sound, struggling in his arms.

 

“She likes it when you rock her, gently.” Raleigh supplies, and Chuck does just that. Minie seems to like it, her eyes trained on his face in wonder, and she stops making sounds like the world has offended her.

 

“I think we’ll be okay.” Raleigh murmurs, adjusting the sling so it’s not quite in his way anymore. He’s not even slightly leaning on Chuck anymore, more like Chuck’s shoulder is fully supporting his slouching body. He looks fucking wrecked, Chuck realizes.

 

“You can crash here if you want to; I’ll watch her while you get some rest, yeah?” He offers; Raleigh must be _really_ tired, because he just hums in agreement, eyes slowly fluttering shut as Chuck rearranges them on the bed so he can lay down. Chuck’s not entirely sure how he’d ended half laying against the head of the mattress himself, Minie dozing against his chest while Raleigh sprawled against his side, but he’s not… adverse to it.

 

Yeah, Chuck thinks to himself, carding a hand through Minie’s soft hair while he listens to Raleigh’s breathing even out, we’ll be alright.

 

 

 

 


End file.
